Amorfs Quick Reference
A compact guide to expressing connected knowledge.
Amorfs uses a small number of simple constructs to represent entities, relationships, properties and metadata.
The important idea is not the syntax itself. It is what the syntax preserves:
Identity. Relationships. Time. Source. Context.
The examples below show how these concepts are represented in Amorfs.
The two principles
- Knowledge describes things and the relationships between them.
- Context belongs with the knowledge it describes.
Once you understand those two ideas, the syntax becomes much easier to read.
| You want to… | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Say A which-is B | A [B] |
The brackets are the which-is verb |
| Give B a property | A [B + prop [val]] |
+ opens a has-a slot on the entity |
| Annotate the claim, not the entity | A [B - prop [val]] |
- hangs off the association in scope |
| List synonyms / translations | [Pluto | 冥王星] |
| separates expression alternatives |
| List several things | [Charon, Nix, Hydra] |
, (comma-space) = several concepts |
| Tag a surface form's language | Pluto{en} |
Tight braces, no space — expression scope |
| Add permanent concept metadata | Pluto {{~1.0, 1930-02-18}} |
{{…}} — one block per position |
| Add association/temporal metadata | [planet {1930/2006}] |
{…} — only when an association exists |
| State a validity interval | {1930-02-18/2006-08-24} or {{12 Nov 2024 7:00 am +11:00/1 hour}} |
Prefer start/duration for timed events; {2006-08-24/} = ongoing |
| Timed event (metadata) | when [{{12 Nov 2024 7:00 am +11:00/1 hour}}] |
Friendly or ISO TemporalSpec in {{…}} |
| Timed event (expression-first) | when [12 Nov 2024 7 am / 1 hour] |
Whole expression matches TemporalSpec → auto temporal metadata |
| Confidence / importance | ~0.99 / +2 |
Inside a metadata block |
| Name a concept for reuse | [{{@pluto}} Pluto] then @pluto |
Register in {{…}}/{…}; later bare = lookup |
| Link to the web | [<http://…>] |
Angle brackets = IRI |
| Map to a standard predicate | name | schema:name [Pluto] |
Human + standard as alternatives |
| Comment | # … (space before inline #) |
Stripped at parse; not in the graph |
The two rules to remember: (1) there are only two verbs — which-is [] and has-a +/-; (2) metadata never follows a closing ] — put it inside, adjacent to what it describes.